Local music man Travis McElroy of Thick Syrup records has some big news:  In October, Thick Syrup will release "Halloween Songs" by David and Jad Fair.  Right on!  Sounds like a great follow-up to the band's Monster Songs for Children that came out in 1998 on the Kill Rock Stars label.

From Travis: 

"I'm very proud to put something out by the guys who helped shaped what i listen to today.

Jad Fair is a founding member of Half Japanese. He has recorded with Yo La Tengo, Daniel Johnston, Kramer, Monster Party, Jason Willett, Lumberob, Richard Hell, Strobe Talbot, The Tinklers, Naofumi Ishimaru, Mosquito, The Pastels, Teenage Fanclub, Phonocomb, DQE, John Zorn, God Is My Co-Pilot, The Tall Dwarfs, Thurston Moore, Eye, Moe Tucker, Eugene Chadbourne, Fred Frith, Mara Flynn, Kevin Blechdom, Terry Adams, The Work Dogs, Tom Ardolino, The Shapir O'Rama, R. Stevie Moore, Bill Wells, Tom Recchion, Isobel Campbell, Norman Blake, Steve Fisk, and David Fair.

Kurt Cobain had Half Japanese open for Nirvana on the group's 1993 tour.  The band's history and influence are chronicled in the 1993 documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King."

Congrats to Thick Syrup--this is a pretty damn good get!!

--Glen

via Trent's flickr.

My goodness, what a show yesterday at the Damrosch bandshell. Hebrew School was stuck at his desk with his Mapai-era ink blotter but managed to telecommute in while fervently texting with folks on the scene. Apart from general encomium about the music, the SMS Mossad reported fantastic audience vibe despite a crisp late-August chill that's already beginning to hang in the air, inspiringly frenetic African dancing on stage, and Thurston Moore walking through crowd, no longer good-looking. (The last item perhaps not breaking news, but do we not dare to dream?)

I see that EEPEEYEEP has managed to YouTube the plurality of the Ex's set-- here's the first of eight parts:

And, for what it's worth, WFMU's simulcast was excellent, replete with live interviews of many of the musicians between sets. I did take some exception to Katherina Ex's on-air diss of DJ Rob Weisberg (though I'm somewhat-- somewhat?!-- biased for having met this sweet fellow and having had the honor to play on his show.) Then again, if the stage announcements were correct and this was truly the Ex's largest American show in their 30-odd-year history, I can stand a little Dutch edginess. Also, at the time of interview, I think they had about 10 minutes to take the stage.

Permanent Records is located in Greenpoint just a couple blocks north of Greenpoint Ave on Franklin Street (a very short walk from the Greenpoint Ave G Station, or a 20-25 minute walk from the Bedford L). In 2007 Permanent relocated from it's original location on Long Island to Greenpoint. While this is a tragic loss for it's former location, it was a great addition to Franklin Street.

While some of the record stores in the Bedford area have an air of pretension Permanent Records is friendly and welcoming! Marjorie, the owner of the shop, is typically behind the counter and is extremely friendly. I have been in several times, and have only had enjoyable experiences.

Permanent has more vinyl than CDs, and of course this is a plus for me. The store set up is records down the right side, and CDs down the left. There are a couple stand alone racks in the center of the floor: one for newly arrived used LPs, another for 7"s, and a third for DJ esque type LPs). They have a variety of record players in the windows, and lots of sun light. The store is not huge, but feels spacious, and comfortable.

Selection wise I always find more records than I need to be buying in my hands. I'm not quite sure how it is labeled, but they have one large section of LPs (that lives in the back right side corner of the store) that is comprised of a very eclectic selection of rock, noise, folk, electronic, and country of the modern varieties. Then they have some smaller section of things like reggae, soul, jazz, ect. The selection is really wonderful. They have your typical record bins, (by alphabet), and then they reserve space on the walls to display albums too (as pictured). They have pretty much something for everybody, and I find that you might end up with something you didn't quite expect to find.

On my most recent visit I purchased Boris' new effort Smile, the repress of Thurston Moore's of Psychic Hearts, a used copy of the Grateful Dead's Blues of Allah, as well as the reason for my visit... my special order of Eat Skull's new album Sick to Death.

I have to thank Marjorie and Permanent Records for allowing people to do special orders. I had been looking all over to find that Eat Skull record, and had asked several places about ordering it for me...but no one would do it. I just kept hearing "Check back next week." Marjorie ordered the record for me, and kept in touch with me until it came in stock. The LP I wanted was on back order, but the store followed up with me three times. Once to let me know that it didn't come in, a second time letting me know the day it would be there, and finally a call to let me know that my record arrived. This is wonderful customer service, and they didn't even make me put down a deposit (which I happily would have done).

They are also open until 9pm! Which means I still have time to make it to the store before they close after I'm done having happy hour (it is one of my favorite activities to record shop after a beer or two)! Permanent Records does instore performances too. To find out what is about upcoming events stop into the store, or email: marjorie@permanentrecords.info and ask to be added to the mailing list.

It may be that Greenpoint just has wonderful specialty shops...besides my consistently good experiences at Permanent, I was also recently surprised by the kindness of the young lady that was working at Dalaga (we didn't catch her name, but she mentioned she was a new employee). KLK and I were in the store on Sunday, and she was just so genuinely nice that she really made us want to frequent their shop.

While I had never visited a lot of these shops before moving to Greenpoint, overall I am just pleasantly surprised with the shops in my new neighborhood. I am happy to live here and be supporting them. Permanent Records (and Dalaga) are both doing good things. They both have made some return customers out of us. I love the Franklin Street shopping district, and I can't wait to explore it more.

If you are a record collector, or just in the mood for some new tunes stop by Permanent. If you can decide on something I'm sure that they are full of recommendations. One last thing I forgot....Permanent is typically a couple bucks cheaper on new LPs than Earwax and Soundfix!

Photos:

Greenpoint Store by JT (via Picasa)

Inside Greenpoint Store by Michael Kirby (via Time Out NY)

Old Store on Long Island by Seamus McGuire (via flickr)

More music news in Greenpoint this week...if you are a fan of punk rock or folk music... Defiance, Ohio is playing Club Europa this Thursday August 21st. If you don't have anything going on, or are looking for something to do, I highly recommend going (I plan on being there)...it is not so often that you get to see a mostly acoustic punk band play. Good times.

(Tom)

yesterday at the last minute I threw down a set at Hotshots (replacing the failed A Fetish for Ethics reunion), playing four songs off "Dog Buys Pistol" and closing with my devilish cover of Classics IV's "Spooky". Some got it, some didn't.. I mean.. I was opening with psych death dance at a hip hop show. I Chris Brown has been shredding the crunchy synths to add to my death dance shows.  Pete Pluto destroyed.. best 518 hip hop performer, hands down. I missed Witness and Oddy Gato.

I've got quite a few shows lined up. First (not quite official), word has it I'll be opening for Mathematicians at Hotshots on Sept 1st. Also on the 15th at Hotshots I'll be playing another show with Rochester's Audibel and his metal band AIDS. On the 22nd (also at Hotshots) I'll be doing a noise set with Jason Cosco and Jeff from If Yes, Then No.. opening for Pinkriverdolphin, Harry Pyle and more TBA. Finally, I'll be playing October 9th at the UAG with a couple of noise bands from Iowa called BOAR and Make Believe Bombs Blow Up Make Believe Worlds. Also joining us will be, of course Grab Ass Cowboys and Worlds of Shit.

take that shit, smoke it and watch Pineapple Express this weekend fuckers! See you at the Mill Fest.

photos!

Ghoul Poon VS Jason Cosco VS Adam Stump = GRAB POON COWBOYS
7/31 @ UAG, Albany, NY

Ghoul Poon
8/4 @ Hotshots, Glens Falls, NY

As for the rest of the day it was not so productive, or maybe it was since I did most of my work before going to bed last night at 3 am. Putting together a new business is taxing on so many levels, I feel drained just thinking at all the problems that must be solved to get this thing opened.

My brother passed through today, we had some small talk. Maybe I will write about my situation with him sometime. I feel mostly sorry for him.

I was deeply disappointed this afternoon when I missed a opportunity to purchase a voucher for 4 nights in a full suite at Caesars Palace for a mere $400. Such a wicked deal, whomever snagged it on the 4 was quite lucky.

American Express sent me a Platty card today. I am going to try to run enough money through it to get one of those Black Cards next year, just to say I did it once. Act all balla and shit. WERD!

We happened upon a interesting little video store, and they were kicking it old school with a "backroom porn selection". Of course I had to look, my guess is cougars/MILFs are all the rage these days in porn. I was amazed at all the titles with this slant, including the resurgence of some starlets that were around when I was younger, and just starting to watch a little of the blue. I had to rent one when I saw my all time fave Julia Ann getting dirty dirty in a scene. Its called "The Cougar Club", I will report back on its wank worthiness.

Happy Birthday 50th Thurston Moore, may you have 50 more years of musical genius.

Today, Thurston Moore, noise guitar extraordinaire, Ecstatic Peace! runner, and, most importantly, Sonic Youth singer, songwriter, and guitarist, turns 50!  It still amazes me that he still rocks (and noises) hard to this day.  Keep it coming man!  Here are some videos of him doing awesome stuff:

• Making Noise!
• Playing With Sonic Youth!
• Speaking!

HAIR POLICE
CENTURY PLANTS
GHOUL POON VS. [][][][]]]][][][] (JASON COSCO)
RISE SET TWILIGHT
BONE PARADE

get ready to not have fun..

---

Uploaded by http://www.youtube.com/user/wwwhatsup

Sonic Youth played a free Fourth Of July show in Battery Park last Friday and it was incredible. They began with "She Is Not Alone" off their first EP (recently reissued with live bonus tracks). During the song Thurston began a trademark feedback noise jam, smashing his guitar against his amp and then diving into the crowd. A Rolling Stone intern was slightly injured in the process. Good thing he wasn't around to cover Suicide in the '70's. (You should click that link. Amazing video!)

The set continued with Bull In The Heather, Silver Rocket, Skip Tracer, The Sprawl, World Looks Red, Cross the Breeze, Hey Joni, Jams Run Free, The Wonder/Hyperstation, and Drunken Butterfly. The emphasis on Daydream Nation material seemed odd since they recently finished an all Daydream Nation tour. And while it would have been nice to hear some Goo/Sonic Nurse/A Thousand Leaves ( I thought Hits Of Sunshine would have been a nice choice) I can't really complain.

The band took full use of the large stage, Thurston jumping around with his hair in his eyes, Kim dancing and spinning around when she sang (Mark Ibold took over on bass for her songs). I've lost track but I think this was my thirteenth time seeing Sonic Youth and probably one of the best sounding shows (of any band) I've ever been to. It's also the only time I've seen any on stage affection between Thurston and Kim. Halfway through Drunken Butterfly, Kim stopped singing, waved her hands in the air for the band to stop playing, and walked over to Thurston who gave her a bear hug, to the cheers of the audience. She then announced "I forgot the lyrics!" And ran to the back of the stage. The story continues but you can just watch it in this video:

After that, they returned for the first encore. Kim said (and I'm paraphrasing) "Not to make excuses, but those lyrics don't mean anything. They're just random Heart lyrics I strung together. The only thing I wrote was "I love you. What's your name?" They then played Making The Nature Scene and Pink Steam (my favorite track on the new album). Then they left again, returned again, and played Schizophrenia and 100%.

Here is a live version from of my favorite Lee Ranaldo song, and maybe my favorite Sonic Youth B-Side, Genetic.

[audio=http://www.zodmagazine.com/Genetic.mp3]

And here is Sonic Youth covering Plastic Bertrand's Ca Plane Pour Moi.

[audio=http://www.zodmagazine.com/Moi.mp3]

And for those of you unclear on why Sonic Youth are fighting a giant monster, it's my "homage" to Jack Kirby's cover for Fantastic Four #1.

[photo by cverwall]

I wasn't actually madly impressed by the NYC fireworks on the Fourth of July. Maybe they would have been better from a different viewing point - we were aiming for the South Street Seaport, but ended up in a bit of a dead end on Pier 36 when they started. Apparently they're the largest display of fireworks in the world, when all four concurrent segments are put together. That's an interesting label - maybe attached because one centralised city authority covers the firework display for the entire city? As opposed to maybe Dubai where almost each hotel will have ridiculous displays on New Year's Eve (not so much the 4th July..). A friend from Hong Kong mentions a similar effect. Overall the display is far larger, but I suppose they're technically many smaller displays happening at the same time. Not so technically, I suspect there's a good deal of American-centrism and pride in this statement too.

[photos by Ryan Muir]

Fireworks themselves originally came from the Chinese, as the natural extension of their invention of gunpowder; they're still the world's largest manufacturer and exporter. I hear the city spent sclose to 10 million dollars on them, And that fewer fireworks actually arrived this year due to soaring gas and transport costs, and of course the floundering dollar. That's a lot of money; maybe it could have been better spent elsewhere? Watching the fireworks on Friday though, I realised that the concept of fireworks itself is kind of amazing. Fireworks can essentially be seen as the most accessible form of public art. You can cut off the streets, the land even the water from people but (at least so far) you cannot cut off the sky.

[photo by Frankie Teardrop]

And the Sonic Youth and Feelies show? Pretty amazing. Or well, the Feelies were pretty alright to watch, and a halfhearted reminder that the US did have some punk in '77, which I should probably look up sometime. Maybe. Sonic Youth, though, were incredible. And a little overwhelming if you think about how many teenage bedrooms and static nights they soundtracked. They played a surprisingly wide range of stuff, which was kind of nice. My favourite moments came when Thurston grabbed Kim up in a hug. Possibly the most wonderful couple ever? Sid and Nancy have nothing on this. And also when she was spinning for ages. Reminded me of Swan Lake in which Prince Siegfried is left spinning alone on stage at the end. I kind of forgot how beautiful ballet can be, at that. Maybe one of these days I'll make it to the student rush lines.

[photo by Chi Chuan]

It did rain a little bit, but what's another show in the rain? I've already been stuck in it before a show (Kid Sister/Vampire Weekend), during openers (The Hold Steady), and after a show (Death Cab) … so I guess this kind of completes it, right?

Carlye and me waiting

Thurston Moore jumped down into the photo pit. Chaos!

This is what happens when Kim Gordon forgets her lyrics

The Jerks played two Knitting Factory shows...early and a late...we couldn't decide what would be the best choice. On one hand the late show is usually rowdier, but then again the band and people who were around in the late '70s to see the Jerks in their prime are getting older...we decided on the 11pm show. Information opened, and played both their own songs as well as a couple covers (including a Mars cover!). They were good, but all in all I wasn't so familiar with their music.

The Jerks played second, and played an impressive 25 minute set (this is really long compared to the 10 minute sets they were known for in the '70s). Lydia Lunch has aged, as everyone does, but was still as surly and aggressive as ever. Talking shit between each song to the crowd, and even her band. They were loud, and offensive...just like you would expect. With the reformation being this intense, it is hard to imagine people seeing this band in 1977. It was all in good fun, or so it seemed, and the crowd would say something back to her, and she would explode again.

The show was really great for people watching. It was obvious that it brought old no wavers out of the woodwork. I'll admit that I was one of the younger people at the show, but it was funny hearing people asking "Who's that tall guy on stage," referring to Thurston Moore. Lydia Lunch might have been pushing the boundries of punk rock as it was know in the '70s but Teenage Jesus and the Jerks definitely influenced alot of the punk that I was into growing up (even though I didn't know it at the time).

For some reason it seems like 2008 has been the year for reunion shows. Seeing Cluster a couple weeks ago at No Fun, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Tullycraft, and Polvo this is turning to be a really rad summer for older music...I hope it just continues to get better.

Photo from Sandra Nazz's Photo Stream (via Flickr)

Speaking of reunion shows and no wave...I'm not really sure why no one is talking about the fact that James Chance and the Contortions are listed on the PS1's 2008 Warm-Up line up for August 30th...if this is in fact happening I'm very excited.

(Tom)

Cat Power

Clear the Room

http://www.mediafire.com/?novjxkydtx1

I don't even know where to begin with this ridiculous photo, but I guess that I picked it to point out how far this artist has gone astray. Her last album of originals, The Greatest, features one of the best things she has ever written. The title track is a moving tribute to Muhammad Ali that transforms Chan Marshall into an honest to goodness soul singer. Now, many of her songs have soul, but this one smoothly became a paean to the power of determination in the face of adversity. This one song made me believe that this woman really could be a more ragged Dusty Springfield.

Sadly, the rest of the album was kind of disappointing. The followup to The Covers Album, Jukebox, was a red hot mess. If you take a closer look, all of her albums are a mix of excellence and mediocrity. However, there a few songs on all of her albums that achieve brilliance. She always had a charismatic voice and a knack for examining the more depressing points of our existence, but it never added up to a great album. However, I always loved her husky, knowing vocals and it served her well on The Covers Album which allowed her the opportunity to deconstruct tunes by Michael Hurley, Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Everything is slowed to crawl and she wrenches every ounce of emotion from this established material. It wasn't an easy task, but she did it with grace and innovation.

I picked this collection since it echoes the successes of The Covers Album and includes versions of Oasis, Thurston Moore and Lynyrd Skynyrd tunes. Some of these are from Peel sessions and I prefer this bootleg to a few of her actual albums. It is a loosey goosy run through her favorite songs and includes unreleased tracks as well. It's a bit messy, but her performances are earnest and on point.

Teenage Jesus and The Jerks were a seminal New York No Wave band that existed from 1976-1979. They reunited to play two Friday the 13th shows at The Knitting Factory to coincide with the publication of Thurston Moore and Byron Coley's book No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980.

If the shows are ever released as a record, the drawing above is my idea for what the record cover should look like. James Sclavunos, Teenage Jesus' former bass player, moved over to drums for the show. I drew him as a dog because of his beagle-y face. Thurston Moore played bass and is drawn as a cat. Lydia Lunch, the driving force behind Teenage Jesus, sang and played guitar. She is a red raccoon.

I was at the first show of the night. Also in attendance were Kim Gordon, Steve Shelly, Lee Ranaldo, Mark Ibold, J.G. Thirlwell, and probably some people I didn't spot. The band took the stage to cheers from the audience, then Lydia Lunch angrily screamed "WHAT!?" into her microphone and the applause quickly died down. And then someone yelled "You suck!" to which Lunch replied "I do, but not you!." Then they played a few songs, followed by (I think) the same guy screaming "Fuck You!" to which Lunch sneered back "You couldn't afford it! Not even now!"

At some point Sclavunos kept screwing up the drum opening of a song and each time he did Lunch berated him loudly. When he finally got it right, Thurston screwed up his bass part and Lunch screamed at him. It was hard to tell if the two guys (both over 6 feet tall mind you) were holding back laughter or scared to death. Later, Thurston's bass strap broke and while he knelt down to fix it Lunch said to the audience "You see what happens when you get someone from Sonic Youth to be in your band?! FUMBLE!!"

Teenage Jesus and The Jerks was supposedly formed as a way for Lydia Lunch to release her hatred of New York City in the late '70s. Thirty years later the music still holds up, at least for people who like music made up of screaming noise and shrieking hypnotic guitar blasts.

Before closing the set with an incredible version of Orphans, Lunch said "Don't think you're getting an encore because you don't deserve one!" And after the song screamed "Thanks for nothing!" and they left the stage.

Here is their "hit" song Orphans off the record Everything.

[audio="http://www.zodmagazine.com/orphans.mp3"]

GG Allin was plain and simple, the most shocking and to most people, the most disgusting performer rock music has ever known. Recording mostly in the punk idiom, Allin was also known to leave his mark on country, spoken word and blues-influenced rock. His violent shows generally involved him rolling around in, and eventually ingesting his own feces and urine. Usually ending up naked, gouging and cutting himself on stage until he became a bloody mess. And if that weren't sexy enough, he oftentimes coaxed audience members to perform oral sex on him. These antics obviously overshadowed his music which tended to be as raw as the sewage he left in his wake. This ultimate rock 'n' roll rebellion endeared him to his cult following, but also enraged local critics and police, landing him in jail no fewer than 50 times. Although barely on punk's fringe, Allin managed to count Dee Dee Ramone, Wayne Kramer and Thurston Moore as fans. Many suspected that Allin suffered from severe mental disorders made worse by his massive consumption of drugs and alcohol. And as shocking as his on stage personality was, by all appearances, his personal life was just as noteworthy. In 1989 he was arrested for rape and torture of a woman in Michigan. Allin denied all charges, insisting that the burning, cutting and drinking of blood were mutual and consensual, and to some degree, the judge agreed, reducing the charges to felony assault for which he served about a year and a half in prison. Allin went out in as memorable a fashion as he lived. On the night of June 27, 1993, he took the stage at a club in New York City. Just two songs into the set, the club's power went out sending Allin into the crowd where he proceeded to tear up anything in the club that he could get his hands on. As the crowd spilled out into the streets, so did Allin, only he was naked, and though covered in blood and feces, he attempted to embrace his fans who were reveling in the street. Allin ended up at a friend's apartment where he died of a heroin overdose in the early hours of June 28. And though dead and gone, the partying friends of his buddy continued to pose for pictures with him until someone realized something was wrong and called the paramedics who pronounced him dead at the scene. He was 36.

Thanks to TMO friends at Pocket Cinefile for pointing us to this great GG Allin footage:

Outside the Knitting Factory on Friday, June 13th, I talked with a woman who went to see Teenage Jesus and the Jerks in their heyday and had not bought a ticket for the one-night reunion, thinking she could walk right in.  She was shocked to find the show was sold out and remarked that they had more fans now then they ever had in their heyday.  

And the fans were not disappointed.  There is no midlife crisis for Teenage Jesus.  Time has not watered down Lydia Lunch.  For the one-night reunion of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, her slide guitar still sounds like scraping metal, she sings with even more venom (she doesn't even attempt to sing anymore, she just belts out the words, which suits the lyrics (Sample from "The Closet": I can't talk/I can't enunciate/And I'm treated like Sharon Tate)), and she continually insults the audience  (She seemed very nice when I got her autograph, which you would never know when she yelled "Don't expect a fucking encore, when are you gonna learn less is more!").  

Thurston Moore filled in on bass, looking scared out of his mind by Lunch, as did the drummer, Jim Sclavunos, who hits the drums with such force he could be smashing heads (and he is smashing eardrums).  Lunch enjoys pressuring her bandmates; at the start of their song "Orphans",  she waited a minute or so before playing while Thurston Moore played the one-note bass line and looked increasingly uncomfortable.  The best song of the night could have been the first; after a wave of painful feedback, they started into the 30-second rip of "Red Alert", which they played loud and fast enough to kill a horse.  

The opening band, Information, was kind of a cross between Robin Crutchfield-era DNA (repetitive amelodic keyboard lines) and Sonic Youth guitars (strangely tuned, ringing).  However, except for one song when the instruments fit together to make a sound like an engine, they can't wrangle as interesting textures out of their instruments as their peers Mars could (Listen to "Scorn" from the Mars EP, which could be a recording from Hiroshima). I wish DNA could have opened for Teenage Jesus (Sumner Crane and Nancy Arlen died in 2003 and 2006, respectively, dashing any hope for a Mars reunion, and the Knitting Factory was so fucking crowded that if James Chance had performed, half the audience would be trampled if he tried to bite someone), as it would be nice to see if Arto Lindsay can still play skronk after several pleasant but decidedly not noisy records.   

Matt Valentine (MV) is a maverick figure of the 'alternative', 'underground' folk scene. Through his organization of the Brattleboro festival in 2003 he is credited with inventing the term 'Free Folk' and, indirectly, prompted the first use of the label New Weird America to describe the loose collective he is part of.

At the last count I have about 16 of his albums mostly with his partner and soul mate Erika Elder (EE) . Two recent ones were on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label but most on limited issue vinyl or cdr so have to be grabbed fast or scored on p2p sites.

Even after listening to all this music I still find it difficult to get a real handle on the man and place him or can name a key track or album that can be counted as representative. His work is uneven, self indulgent but curiously addictive.

MV began as a founder member of influential The Tower Recordings collective based in New York, contributing to their singular brand of 'futuristic-folk' and 'cosmic drones'. The online 'zine Stylus described their sound well as " a dense stewy, sensual mass of pseudo-synchronized sensitive ugliness broadcast from several different artistic galaxies all at once".

Other reviewers in trying to get a handle on this kind of material grope around for suitable reference points. They line up the usual suspects like the ramshackle acid folk of The Incredible String Band or the strange atmospherics of the cult Pagan horror movie The Wicker Man.

When these fail to cover all the bases, an air of desperation sets in and the comparisons become more delirious and random, ranging from Fairport Convention to The Velvet Underground or from The Butthole Surfers to Sun Ra. All this doesn't help much in defining their sound but communicates the fact that the music is as mystifying as it is mystical, and is more rewarding to experience than classify.

One recurring theme is the reference to the way the music sounds as if it were beamed in from another planet. This is not surprising since, on one album, the band dub themselves a 'fraternity of moonwalkers' and many of their track titles have references to space travel or make interstellar associations .e.g Taste of Moon, Spaceball, Lunar Discotheque . ' Intergalactic Housing Don't Bother Me'

MV does little to bring these extraterrestrial musings down to earth. He admits a fascination for the skewed sci-fi visions of Phillip K. Dick , and frequently refers to his music as a species of 'lunar blues'. A self presentation on his My Space site reads:

"still orbiting the earth in Vermont is matt 'mv' valentine, the brawn of the tower recordings, and erika 'ee' elder the CEO of Heroine Celestial Agriculture together with their dog zuma they run the child of microtones terran library of exploratory music and sing songs with american avatars 'the bummer road' "

As with his solo stuff it's hard to find a unifying thread or any consistent pattern to the Tower Recordings' releases . A good overview of MV/EE releases can be found on Mathieu Duval's ever reliable record collection website.

The first time I saw Cat Power was back in....I guess it was 1998 or 1999. Sometime in there. It was at a small club in the Meatpacking District. I believe it was called, The Cooler (sorry, I'm multitasking and don't feel like looking shit up right now). If memory serves, Chan Marshall was opening for John Fahey. I hadn't heard of either of them, but my "in the know" friend, Brian, convinced me to go. I'll be honest, I don't remember a lot from that night (substances may have been abused). I do remember this -- Chan Marshall was crazy and I loved her voice. She stood on one foot while playing guitar and twirled the other foot around in circles. John Fahey was also beautifully crazy. Brian and I left before the show ended, because Fahey wouldn't stop playing. It felt like hours had gone by and I'm pretty sure he was only playing one song the whole time. Oh, and I also remember that Thurston Moore was at the club that night. Not playing, just watching. I've seen Cat Power a bunch since. I still love her music, but after the last show I went to (2006 - Knitting Factory - LA), I vowed never to go to another live show. I wasn't a fan of her whole, keeping-the-lights-off-forgetting-the-lyrics-to-my-own-songs shtick. I hear she's sobered up now and puts on a better show, but I don't know...I make myself a promise, I try to stick to it. I never had another opportunity to see John Fahey. Sadly, he died a few years after the show at The Cooler. I have, however, found a lot of amazing "raw music" through his record label, Revenant. Thurston Moore...I still think he's great. I've never seen him play live, but I'd like to. I recently needed to make space in my tiny apartment, so I threw away a bunch of old tapes. It was a particularly sad day when I threw away my Sonic Youth tape, Dirty.

Cat Power - Nude As The News
Cat Power - Cross Bones Style

John Fahey - Gamelan Guitar
John Fahey - Sunflower River Blues
John Fahey - Requiem for Molly (Part 3)

Sonic Youth - Drunken Butterfly
Sonic Youth - 100%

Yep, here it is: “No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980,” a visual history by Thurston Moore and Byron Coley. It got reviewed in New York Times and everything.

This is the kind of book that I sneer at (a coffee table book about underground music is almost as bad as a coffee table book about coffee tables) but actually am really excited about. Suicide! James Chance! DNA! Pictures of Eno hanging out producing while "No New York"! Lydia Lunch ranting! Gah!

Lydia sums up her era like nobody else (go read rest of excerpt here):

Beneath the scowls of derision, the antagonism and acrimony, and the nearly unbearable shrillness that was our soundtrack, we were howling with delight, laughing like lunatics in the madhouse that was New York City, thrilled to be rubbing up against the freaks and other outcasts, who somehow, for some unknowable reason, had all decided to run to land's end and all at once scream their bloody heads off.

—Lydia Lunch, July 10, 2007

picture courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan

Skip to 2008: Thurston getting a latte and rubbing up against the outcasts? Perhaps not. But Thurston is still cool, though. No, I'll never knock Thurston on this blog. Speaking of Thurston, noise isn't dead and his participation in the ongoing scene in the city proves it.  A few years ago in a loft in Long Island City I saw my friend Dom of Prurient and Hospital Productions play a show with Thurston benefiting some hipster/noise-centric magazine. It was a heavy bill. I was mesmerzied by one band playing in particular: Magik Markers. Lead singer Elisa Ambrogio was like a hyperactive child crossed with a less sexed up Lydia Lunch and screamed and cowered simultaneously. Thankfully they have not faded into complete obscurity but have actually begun to put on some highly listenable albums. Here's a track from their new album BOSS, produced by, of all people, Mr. Lee Renaldo.

Taste: Magik Markers

Lastly, I do know some freaks who still live in Alphabet City and they don't go to Starbucks:

Courtesy of David Rogers Berry (from O'death)--music from New Adventure Violence

I forgot to mention that Thurston Moore took up the bass on the 13th to play a show with Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.

Somewhat frightening is how poorly Lydia Lunch has aged.

Was she into hard drugs or something? Because she seriously looks not-so-well for only being... 49. That's right. She's younger than Thurston. But dude, you know what she looks like? My least favorite internet meme in the universe!

First, THE CALL IT ANYTHING were awesome. Psych/prog with an awesome drummer.. they played two real tight jams (I want to say this was their first show?). It was friday the 13th so JASON COSCO rocked out with the visuals: Jason Voorhees on acid choppy clips.. awesome stuff.

I played next with the help of Chris Brown on synths and debuted a couple of actual songs. I played "First Date Spaghetti Dinner", "Botanica" and "Foxy Pink" all off my LP I'm working on. The performance was alright aside from a few usual malfunctions.. we played through a weird amp which actual made us sound like a lofi, basement 80's dance group.. so that was sweet.

GRAB ASS COWBOYS shredded it up next with their first performance in a few months. Christian rocked out with an Alesis HR-16 which definitely added to the sonic goodness.

Next up was my second time performing with BAD COSTUME. This was a truly epic performance. JASON JETTE of COMPLICATED SHIRT , Mike of ZAHNARZT, Kevin of BONE BARADE and a saxophonist joined us in a massive drone piece. My ears are still ringing.

And last WORLDS OF SHIT performed with Christian giving him a hand, but sadly I missed the performance.

All in all.. an amazing night in Albany for the 518 noise goons!

This is a small preview.